The incidence of pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) turkey meat at a Brazilian commercial plant and the functional properties in its meat product

The objective of this study was to report the incidence of pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) turkey breast meat at a commercial plant in southern Brazil and the consequences on the quality of meat processing. This study was subdivided into 2 experiments: I) incidence of PSE meat and II) effects on meat processing. Experiment I: A total of 2610 breast filets were collected, and pH and color were tested. A value of 53.0 was determined using a Minolta lightness test (L*) as the cutoff value for PSE meat characterization. The incidence of PSE meat was 41.7%. Experiment II: A total of 16 filets in natura, 8 PSE and 8 normal samples, were analyzed for pH, color, and water holding capacity (WHC); they were processed into smoked products and yield, color, pH, texture, and moisture were evaluated. Functional properties were compared between PSE and normal meat samples; a 5.5% lower WHC was identified as the consequence of color abnormality. Finally, these PSE meat samples were processed into smoked meat, and the product was 31.3% harder than processed normal meat. The results showed approximately 5%-10% weight loss in PSE meat, with a risk of serious some economic losses for the poultry industry.